


Through a Glass Darkly

by Digitalwave



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-08
Updated: 2012-03-08
Packaged: 2017-11-01 16:06:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Digitalwave/pseuds/Digitalwave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you do when your world ends?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through a Glass Darkly

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the SV/SGA Flash Fiction Challenge and dedicated to Oxoniensis (Sweetie, it's Clex but it had a mind of its own.)
> 
> Disclaimer: Not mine, but I promise to put them right back when I'm finished. Honest...

"C...Clark?" 

Lex fought to draw a shallow, broken breath. Clark cringed inside hearing the wetness of blood filling his lungs, the grate of bone against bone. Rocking him gently he prayed his touch wasn't hurting Lex further. Tears blurred Clark's vision as he looked down into glassy, unfocused, beloved eyes.

"Shh, Lex… I'm here, I've got you. Rest, just rest, okay? Everything's gonna be f…fine. Promise…" Every bit of color seemed to be leeching out of Lex's face as Clark watched, the blood from his wounds straining the blue of Clark's uniform crimson as he held him. 

"Hurts, Clark… Fuck, it hurts…" His voice trailed away into a breathless whisper that even Clark had to strain to hear. "M'sorry, Clark… Didn't mean to… break promise…" 

Clark pulled him closer, trying desperately to lend Lex some of his strength, his warmth as he sheltered his body from the storm raging around them.

"Hey… Don't… You haven't broken any promises to me, Lex. You haven't, just rest, okay?" Clark heard the fissures in his own voice as pain threatened to swamp him, his arms tightening around his precious burden.

Lex shook his head, the movement uncoordinated, weak. "Not you… Ryan… Promised him I w…wouldn't leave you..." Lex's hand shook as he reached up, touching his cold fingers to Clark's cheek. "Love you, Clark… always. N…never forget that… I lo…"

Clark screamed as Lex went lax in his arms, his heart stuttering to a stop. Apokolips had done this. The bastard had finally succeeded in taking away everything that Clark loved. One of his first acts had leveled Kansas taking his parents and now, this. 

Shaking he looked down at the broken body cradled in his arms, cold settling in the center of his soul. Clark didn't think he'd ever be warm again. 

Gently, his arms shaking, tears running un-noticed down his face, Clark laid Lex out on the ground. Bending over he gently kissed cold lips that would never smile at him again, never snark about his 'farmboy' tastes. Removing his tattered cloak Clark shivered at the amount of red already painted on his clothes even before the soft crimson folds obscured Lex from his sight.

Standing on unsteady legs rage filled him, his vision going dark around the edges. An animalistic snarl broke from his lips, each word grated out through the pain choking his heart. "No more, God damn it, no fucking more!" 

Force lines crackled, filling the air as he shot heavenward, the Earth itself screaming as gravity rippled around him. Clark shot through the layers of the atmosphere until he reached the obscenity parked in orbit around the planet. Apokolips had played at establishing relations with humanity at first, all the time silently putting his dark designs in motion.

Punching a hole into the center of the craft some distant still functioning part of his brain noted the alarm klaxons going off around him. The computer voice yelling about hull breaches, damage reports. The only thing he cared about was reaching him, ripping the bastard limb from limb and erasing him from reality just as he'd done to Lex.

Ripping open the final barrier like so much tin foil Clark stepped inside the control room, his breath rough and uneven as the monster turned to face him, a smirk slashing his face.

Clark was across the room from one heartbeat to the next, his hands curling around the creature's neck. "Fuck you, Apokolips, fuck you. I'll kill you for what you've done!" 

Thick fingers reached up, pulling Clark's away as they struggled on the floor. "What Kal-el? Not hiding behind your human chattel any longer? Oh, I'm sorry, did your toy break? I'm afraid our solders were a little rough as they had their pl…"

Clark back-handed him, the force of the blow sending him crashing into the control console, sparks flying over both of them. Before Apokolips could regain his footing, Clark was on him again, hitting him, not bothering to hold back his strength as he normally would.

Weird flashes hit his vision as they fought, images that made little sense overlaying his sight. Tossing Apokolips through the air, Clark moved in, ready to deliver a killing blow, uncaring of the consequences, what it would later do to his soul. Suddenly, a bright burst of green light filled the room, sharp, intense pain driving him down to his knees. 

As he fell, darkness consuming him, he felt strong arms come around him, a hand moving through his matted hair. A face came into focus for just a second as he fell, confusion fighting through his embattled brain. One word, one single strand of reality tethered Clark, following him down into oblivion. "Lex…?"

Clark had no way of knowing where he was as he slowly swam back to consciousness, pain weighing down his limbs, the beeping of monitors harsh against his ears. A soft gasp escaped his lips as he tried to open his eyes, the brightness of the light searing his brain. The light was quickly lowered, a cool, welcome dampness washed over his face before he had the courage to try again. 

A blurred shape hovered over him, eased Clark up, arranging the pillows piled behind his head. A sense of peace, of home filled Clark's soul, he knew even before his vision finished clearing although his mind cried out it couldn't be true. Once more he spoke a single word, his voice cracked and broken. "Lex…?"

A cool hand settled on Clark's cheek, he felt the tremor of the fingers as they touched him. Clark saw tears shining in Lex's eyes as he looked back at him, heard the frantic rush of air in his lungs, the beat of his heart. All the things grounding him in a reality that he prayed wasn't some kind of sick game Apokolips was playing with him.

"C…Clark? Thank god! Can you see me this time? I was afraid that you'd… That that fucking bastard had broken you…" Lex leaned forward, mindful of the wires surrounding Clark and pulled him close, a soft kiss on his lips erasing the feel of that last, desperate kiss as Lex lay 'dying'.

Clark struggled to believe what his eyes, his senses were telling him. "Lex? I don't… I don't understand, you… I saw you d…die…"

"No, Clark. No. None of it was real, none of it. That fucker ripped apart your mind, controlled it. He made you see, made you feel what he wanted you to feel." Soft fingers carded through his hair as Lex settled him back against the bed, sorrow darkening Lex's eyes as he watched Clark. "That bastard played you like his own super-powered puppet and laughed about it to our faces?"

Confusion washed over Clark again, his mind fighting his acceptance of the altered reality. "I don't understand, you mean Apokolips?"

"No, Clark, he was never here, it was never him. None of it; my 'death', the battle, none of it was as it seemed." Lex grimaced, a look of pure hatred coloring his face before he hid it back behind his mask. "It was Max, Clark… Maxwell Lord. Our 'good friend' was the shit who tore your brain apart and stitched it back together the way he wanted it." Lex shivered, a hard tremor tearing through his body. "He turned you into a fucking weapon and then pulled the trigger, aiming right at us."

Clark looked around him, really looked for the first time since he'd woken up, seeing the familiar outlines of the Watch Tower's Med bay. A feeling of horror washed over him, the strange 'visions' he'd seen as he'd fought Apokolips suddenly filling his mind again.

"Oh, God… Lex? What have I done? What have I… Please, tell me no one died…"

Strong arms held Clark down, forcing him back against the cool sheets, an oxygen mask covering his face for a moment as his panic forced the air from his lungs. His eyes frantically searched Lex's face, seeing the love reflected back at him, its presence a balm against his tattered soul.

"Shh, Clark, it's okay… The place was banged up pretty bad but the structure held. Only one of us was injured..."

Cold settled around Clark's heart. "Lex, God… Who? Who did I hurt?"

A grimace marred Lex's face, pain in his eyes. "Bruce, Clark, it was Bruce. He sealed himself off with you until we could stop you with the Kryptonite."

Clark felt the racing of his heart as it hammered against his chest feeling like it would tear itself free. "No… How bad, Lex? How bad is he?"

Lex settled himself on the edge of the bed, his fingers tracing the tracks of the tears on Clark's face. "It's bad, Clark. He's critical but, he'll live. Dr. Midnite says some part of you fought the programming, helped you pull your punches from the full power of your strength. Otherwise he never would have survived."

Clark closed his eyes, shame filling him wanting nothing more than to crawl into a dark corner somewhere and never come out. He'd almost killed one of his closest friends, almost destroyed a place that was a second home to so many of them. He felt gentle, resolute fingers pulling him over, forcing Clark to face Lex. Clark opened his eyes at the first soft touch of Lex's lips against his.

"No, Clark. I won't let you do this. You are not to blame for any of it. Only one bastard is and his name is Maxwell Lord, not Superman, and definitely not Clark Kent." Lex gently pushed Clark, his fingers firm against his chest. "Do you hear me, Clark? You aren't responsible for this; you were just the weapon he used to hurt us all."

Panic filled Clark again. "Fuck, Lex… Max… I have to stop him… I have to…"

Lex shook his head as he held Clark down, steel coloring his eyes. "Clark, no… He's been 'dealt' with. He'll never harm you, or anyone else, ever again?"

Clark searched Lex's face, saw the hatred for Max he didn't try to hide. "Lex? Was it you?"

Lex looked down at Clark, pain warring with love as his gaze never left Clark's face. "No, Clark, it was Diana but she only did what we all knew had to be done. He boasted that as long as you lived you would never be free of him. That you were his to control, that there was nothing we could do to stop or change it. J'onn read him; felt the power of his mind. He saw that what Max said was true." 

Another hard shiver shook Lex's body. "She snapped his neck, dropped him where he stood." Lex's voice became hard. "Clark, if she hadn't done it, I would have. Diana just beat me to the punch."

"I'm s…sorry, Lex. Oh, god… Diana, Bruce… How can they, how can you, ever forgive or trust me, ever again?" Pain coursed through Clark, for his friend, for what she'd been forced to do in his name. Clark closed his eyes, fresh tears coursing down his cheeks. "I'm just a f…fucking monster…"

Lex shook Clark again, placing his fingers beneath his chin, forcing his face up as Clark opened his eyes. "No, damn it, Clark. Nobody blames you! Get it through your thick, stubborn alien skull that you aren't the monster here, Max was. He'd been planning this for years. He was never our friend, never. He hated and mistrusted all of us, you most of all. He'd set things in motion to kill every hero on Earth, every 'threat' he saw to mankind in his bitter, twisted mind." Lex gently punched Clark in the chest with his finger. "You did not do this, Clark; no one blames you for what happened. No one, not even Bruce."

Clark turned away from Lex, quiet sobs still ripping through him as he moved to face the wall. Too much, it was just too much to take in right now. All the questions still remaining would have to wait. Exhaustion dragged him under, the feel of Lex's hands on his hair, his back slowly fading into the background as Clark sought the only escape he could take right now. The last thing he felt as he surrendered to sleep was the touch of Lex's lips against his hair, a softly murmured 'I love you' following him into the dark. Clark clung to it with all of his strength, not sure if his own softly spoken reply was more than just in his own fractured mind.

The lights in this corner of the Med Bay dimmed with one quietly spoken word as Lex stood up; looking down at the broken face of the one he loved. He felt the hand on his shoulder, turning to face the person he hadn't even heard enter the room. Warm arms encircled him pulling him in to a strong embrace, strength added to his without his even asking.

"Martha? How long have you been here? Is Jonathan with you?"

Martha rubbed her hands over Lex's back, soothing circles that chased away some small part of the desolation that had filled him at the thought of Clark's never finding his way home. Of his being lost within his own mind forever.

Shh, sweetie, just a few minutes. Wally came and got us as soon as he knew the Tower was safe." Martha released Lex and stepped away, one hand still clasped in his as she moved toward the bed, her free hand moving to touch her shattered child. "How bad is it, Lex?"

"It's bad, Martha, really bad. Max tore Clark's mind apart. He forced him to do the one thing that he's always been most terrified of; hurting the people he loves." Lex drew a shaky breath. "How do we deal with this, Martha? How do we keep that bast… How do we keep Max from winning?"

Martha turned, her hand going to touch Lex, a gentle smile transforming her face as she faced him. "The same way we always do, together. What was it you said to Clark, all those years ago?

Lex smiled, his fingers sliding through Clark's hair. Even so deeply asleep he felt Clark moving into his touch, some of the sorrow etched so deeply into his face fading, just a little. "That we had a destiny, that we shouldn't let anything stand in its way."

Lex felt Martha's hand against the small of his back as she added her gentle strength to his. "Just remember that, sweetheart, no matter how bad things may get. Make Clark remember it too. I've seen firsthand just how powerful the two of you are together." 

Lex nodded at her words, his eyes never leaving Clark's face. Leaning down he kissed him, the kiss filled with promise and faith. Together they'd face the demons Max had left behind to destroy Clark's soul. They'd find a way to beat them all. Because, if they didn't, Max would win, and there was no way in heaven, or in hell, that Lex would let that happen. 

fin


End file.
